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78K views 31 replies 18 participants last post by  Jay3 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Pigeons make wonderful pets and are pretty easy to care for, here are some basic things that pigeons need:

Water:
1. Fresh water (change it twice a day if it gets dirty quickly)

Feed:
2. A good pigeon mix either from a feed supply or pigeon supply store is best. Bulk stores often carry some grains which can be mixed to make a pigeon mix, make sure they are good quality and not infested with bugs (Wheat weevils are a common problem in the wheat that I have bought from a bulk store)
A good mix with quality grain should contain most of these seeds: Wheat, barley, whole corn/unpopped pop corn, white/green peas, maple peas, buckwheat, flax, milo, millet, safflower, vetch and others..

There are many mixes out there, here is a good site:
http://purgrain.com/ingredients.htm
http://purgrain.com/products.htm

Grit:
Grit (Not gravel from a pet shop) aids in the digestion of seed and pigeons enjoy picking at it for minerals and other benefits. Red cross grit is most often found at a feed supply store, it contains crushed oyster shells and is a good source of calcium.
Also offering chopped cuttle bone to your pigeon is another good calcium source, this is especially good for hens who are about to lay.

Supplements:
4. Pigeons kept indoors will need a vitamin supplement because they are not exposed to direct sunlight to produce their own vitamin D3. A good Avian Supplement can be found at a pet shop or from a pigeon supply store. Make sure it contains vitamin D3 (Prime, by Hagens is a good product that I recommend)

Snacks:
Some snacks that pigeons enjoy occassionally are, Raw unsalted peanuts (NOT roasted), safflower, sunflower hearts, hemp, sesame seeds (raw) and others..

Fruits and Veggies:
5. Some pigeons enjoy eating veggies and some fruits.
Vegetables to try are fresh spinach leaves, garlic greens, kale, lettuce (Romaine is best and not iceberg) grated carrots, thawed peas and corn from the freezer bags. Sprouts are also very nutritious, you can grow your own as that's safer. Lentil sprouts and mung bean sprouts grow very quickly and pigeons LOVE them!
**Avoid Veggies like Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.

Fruits: So far I've only tried fresh papaya fruit with my own pigeons, papaya contains enzymes which aid in the digestion. Only small amounts should be given though.
**Avoid Avocado as it's toxic to all birds.

Additional benefits:
- Adding ACV (Apple cider vinegar) to the water once a week, this helps keeps add some acidity to the system which keeps diseases like coccidiosis, canker and crop candida away.
The dose is 1 tbsp per gallon of fresh water.
- Probiotic powder mixed into the seed (moistened with afew drops of sunflower oil, garlic oil, or corn oil) or adding the probiotics to the water once a week as well will help replace the good gut bacteria. If this is not convenient then an alternative is giving a probiotic capsule every 2 weeks or month down the pij's throat.
Probiotic capsules can be bought from a health food store, the same kind that humans can take.
Probiotic powder can also be found at a health food store.
The product in the following link is designed for pigeons specifically and is available at Jedds and Siegel:
http://www.siegelpigeons.com/catalog-dia.html

- A clove of garlic can be put in a gallon of water or a tiny bit of grated garlic in the water bowls, garlic is healthy and keeps the feathers looking nice and keeps internal parasites away.
- A brewer's yeast tablet (avaiable at pet shops, mostly for dogs) and cod liver oil capsule (for vitamin A and Omega 3 which keeps the feathers shiny) can be given once every 2 months or so..
**Be careful not to overdose on the Cod liver oil as Vitamin A can be toxic if given too much.


Housing:

A nice cage will do for overnight roosting, the pigeon should be able to stretch out both wings and still have some room. Pigeons don't really like round perches so you can get a flat perch.
The droppings should be cleaned once a day to keep the cage clean and the pigeon healthy.
If the pet pigeon is to be kept in the cage most of the day then he needs a big indoor cage (Of course still needs some flying time outside the cage as well, building a cage is much more convenient as many of our members have. Cages that big are hard to find and expensive)
If the pigeon can be kept free in a seperate room even just in the day time then that's much better.

Bathing:
Once or twice a week putting out a tub with water will help keep the pigeons clean, pigeons LOVE baths but will splash around quite a bit so an old shower curtain on the floor will make it easier to clean up.
 
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#2 ·
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#3 ·
Haven't posted here for a long time but do check back once in a while. Our lone pigeon loves to bathe all on his own. Probably twice a week. Now he is about to get a companion. I don't even know the breed but my husband's friend says it is black and brown with a little white. We'll soon see and it is supposed to be a female so we will have some babies of our own eventually I suppose. This one is just fledged and eating on it's own we're told. We'll get her this week and keep her in the house for a couple of weeks so that she too will bond with us as Prince has. He is deeply bonded!
That's great. And keeping them in with you so that they bond to you does help a lot. But once you pair them up, you may find that they are less bonded to you. They become a pair, and although they will probably still remain friendly with you, they will usually lose some of that closeness to you. They want the bond with you, as they don't have another bird to bond to, but when they pair up with another bird, it changes the relationship between you and the bird. As it should.:)
 
#4 ·
You don't introduce them by putting them together. You keep them in 2 separate cages near each other. After a while you can move them closer together. Give them time to get used to each other, and for her to become interested in him. Once she starts showing interest, then you can let them out together to see how it goes. Don't put her in his cage, which he sees as his territory. She needs to be able to get away and retreat if she wants to. The male can really hurt the female if you just put them together like that. Let them take their time. Let her have time to become interested in him. It may take a week or two. Can't say, but much better in the long run than to have him bullying her.
 
#6 ·
This is what i've been looking for, since becoming owned by a pigeon , i want to make sure she or he gets the best I can offer for her. Goes with she, seems fiting i i guess .

Cloud & Duchess
 
#10 ·
Glad to see this, I rescued a white pigeon that I believe used to be our neighbor's. Our other neighbor's cats took some feathers off him/her, but the pigeon is doing pretty good. It's been eating sunflower seeds, seeds from a suet cake and plenty of fresh water. We also have chickens, just not sure if I want them mixed in with the pigeon. It's a lot smaller and missing some tail feathers. I have him in our really big fenced in area where he can also get daylight too. And I made him a perch our of a piece of leftover building wood. Hopefully soon his tail feathers will come about and he will do good.
 
#16 ·
You bought something for a caged bird. To mix a whole liter, it would take a lot.
5 teaspoons=1 cc
33.81 ozs = 1 liter
So if you need 1cc(5 teasp.) in every 3 ozs, then you would need, 11cc, which would be 55 teaspoons.

You probably would be better off with something for a flock treatment with vitamins.
 
#28 ·
hey everyone! I have a 9 week old roller name Marbles, hes now becoming independent and not wanting so much handling, any sugeestions on treats? toys?? and games we can play? I usully bring him everywere even to work but he stayed home today I think hed getting annoyed with me haha
 
#32 ·
Well, when they have eggs, you exchange them for the fakes. But eventually they will breed and have more eggs, so you have to stay on top of it. Once they get out of hand, it's harder. Yes, 2 can become many in a short time. Only problem with pigeons. LOL. And BTW, given the chance, the rats will kill the birds.
 
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